The Practical Garden-Book Part 6

Zinnia Haageana.

Zinnia coccinea plena.

Summer bedding is often made by perennial plants which are carried over from the preceding year, or better, which are propagated for that particular purpose in February and March. Such plants as geranium, coleus, alyssum, scarlet salvia, ageratum and heliotrope may be used for these beds. It is a common practice to use geranium plants which are in bloom during the winter for bedding out during the summer, but such plants are tall and ungainly in form and have expended the greater part of their energies. It is better to propagate new plants by taking cuttings or slips late in the winter and setting out young, fresh, vigorous subjects.

Very bold and subtropical effects can be made by planting in the open such things as palms, bananas, crotons, araucarias, caladiums and cannas. Plants like bananas and palms, which are kept normally in pots, would better be left in the pots and plunged to the rims rather than turned out directly into the soil. In order to attain quick and continuous effects, it is advisable to set the plants rather close. As such plants are likely to be injured by strong winds, it is well to have subtropical beds in a somewhat protected place.

Another type of bed is that which attempts to make patterns or designs, or carpet-bedding. There are comparatively few plants which are adapted to this purpose, for the plants must be such as will stand shearing and which have very strong and constant colors of foliage. The most popular bedding plants are coleus (particularly the yellow Golden Bedder) achyranthes, alternanthera, _Centaurea gymnocarpa_, and such succulent plants as the house leeks. Some of the annual flowers may also be used for strong color effects, as _Lobelia Erinus_ and sweet alyssum.

Ordinarily the making of carpet-beds should be left to professional gardeners, since it requires much skill and care to make and keep the beds in perfect condition; and a ragged or imperfect carpet-bed is worse than no bed at all. Carpet-beds are really curiosities, and they have no more legitimate place in the general pictorial landscape design area than painted stones or sheared evergreens. Therefore, they should be placed by themselves at one side, where they do not interfere with the general design of the place. In public parks they make a very useful attraction when set off by themselves, the same as zoological gardens or other attractions do.

BEEFSTEAK GERANIUM is _Begonia_.

BEETS. Being one of the hardiest of spring vegetables, the seed may be sown as early in the spring as the ground can be worked. A light, sandy soil is the best on which to grow Beets to perfection, but any well tilled garden soil will raise satisfactory crops. On heavy soil the turnip Beet gives the best results, as the growth is nearly all at or above the surface. The long varieties, having tapering roots running deep into the soil, are apt to be misshapen unless the physical condition of the soil is such that the roots meet with little obstruction. A succession of sowings should be made, at intervals of from two to three weeks, until late summer, as the Beets are much more desirable in their young stage than when they have become old and woody.

The Mangel-Wurzel and the Sugar Beet are usually grown as a field crop, and will not enter into the calculations of the home garden.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Early Beets]

In order to hasten the season of the extra-early crop of Beets, the seeds may be sown in boxes or in the soil of a hotbed in February or March, transplanting the small plants to the open ground at the time the first sowing of seed is made. As the flat or turnip-rooted varieties grow at the surface of the ground, the seed may be sown thickly, and as the more advanced roots are large enough to use they may be pulled, leaving room for the later ones to develop, thus growing a quant.i.ty in a small area and having a long season of small Beets from one sowing. For winter use the late July sown seed will give the best roots, growing through the cool months of the fall to a medium size and remaining firm without being tough or stringy. These may be dug up after light frosts and before any severe cold weather, and stored in barrels or boxes in the cellar, using enough dry dirt to fill s.p.a.ces between the roots and cover them to the depth of 6 inches. These roots, thus packed in a cool cellar, will be fit to use through the entire winter months. When it can be had, florists' or sphagnum moss is an excellent medium in which to pack roots for winter.

The early round or turnip varieties are best for early and summer use.

The Long Blood Beets may be used for storing, but these require a longer season of growth.

BEGONIAS. Tender bedding and house plants. Next to the geranium, Begonias are probably the most popular for house culture of the entire plant list. The ease of culture, profusion of bloom or richness of foliage, together with their adaptability to shade, make them very desirable.

Begonias may be divided into three sections: the fibrous-rooted cla.s.s, which contains the winter-flowering varieties; the tuberous-rooted, those which bloom through the summer, the tuber resting through the winter; and the Rex forms, or Beefsteak Geraniums, having large ornamental leaves.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fibrous-rooted Begonia]

The fibrous-rooted kinds may be propagated by seed or cuttings, the latter being the usual method. Cuttings of half-ripened wood root easily, making a rapid growth, the plants flowering in a few months.

The tuberous-rooted varieties are propagated by division of the tuber or from seed, the former being rarely done except to increase the stock of some extra fine variety. The seeds, like those of all Begonias, are very small, and should be sown with great care. Simply sprinkle them on the surface of the soil, which should be a mixture of leaf-mold and sand, with the addition of a small amount of fibrous loam. Watering should be done by setting the pot or box in which the seeds are sown in water, allowing the moisture to ascend through the soil. When the soil has become completely saturated, set the box in a shady situation, covering it with gla.s.s or some other object until the tiny seedlings appear.

Never allow the soil to become dry. The seedlings should be transplanted, as soon as they can be handled, into boxes or pots containing the same mixture of soil, setting each plant down to the seed-leaf. They will need three or four transplantings before they reach the blooming stage, and at each one after the first, the amount of fibrous loam may be increased until the soil is composed of one-third each of loam, sand and leaf-mold. The addition of a little well rotted manure may be made at the last transplanting. These tuberous-rooted Begonias make superior bedding plants if given a shady situation and deep soil; but for the amateur they are perhaps better grown as pot-plants, for one is able to give them better conditions by that method. The flowers are both double and single, ranging in color from pure white and yellow to pink and red. After flowering the plants will die down and the tubers, after drying off, may be placed in a dry, warm place until spring.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Rex Begonia]

The Rex type, having no branches, is propagated from the leaves. The large mature leaves are used. The leaf may be cut into sections having at the base a union of two ribs. These pieces of leaves may be inserted in the sand as any other cutting. Or a whole leaf may be used, cutting through the ribs at intervals and laying the leaf flat on the propagating bench or other warm, moist place. In a short time young plants having roots of their own will form. These may be potted when large enough to handle, and will soon make good sized plants. Rex Begonias usually grow little during winter. Be sure that the pots are well drained, so that the soil does not become sour. New plants--those a year or so old--are usually most satisfactory. Keep them away from direct sunlight.

An insidious disease of Begonia leaves has recently made its appearance.

The best treatment yet known is to propagate fresh plants, throwing away the old stock and the dirt in which it is grown.

BELLIS PERENNIS. See _Daisy_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Ancient Briton Blackberry]

BLACKBERRIES. The one essential to the successful growing of Blackberries is a moist soil,--not one in which water will stand, but one rich enough in humus to hold sufficient moisture to carry the crop through the growing season. It is usually found best to plant in the fall, earthing up slightly around the plants. The distance between the plants should be regulated by the variety. The smaller-growing kinds (as Early Harvest and Wilson) may be planted 4 x 7 ft., the rank-growing varieties (as Snyder) 6 x 8 ft. Thorough cultivation throughout the season will help in a material degree to hold the moisture necessary to perfect a good crop. The soil should be cultivated very shallow, however, so as not to disturb the roots, as the breaking of the roots starts a large number of suckers that have to be cut out and destroyed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Shears for cutting out old canes]

Blackberries, like dewberries and raspberries, bear but one crop on the cane. That is, canes which spring up this year bear next year. From 3 to 6 canes are sufficient to be left in each hill. The superfluous ones are thinned out soon after they start from the ground. The old canes should be cut out soon after fruiting and burned. The new shoots should be pinched back at the height of 2 or 3 ft. if the plants are to support themselves. If to be fastened to wires, they may be allowed to grow throughout the season and be cut back when tied to the wires in winter or early spring. Tools for the cutting out of the old canes are well represented in the pictures. Shears are used for shortening-in the canes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Shears for heading-in bushes]

Blackberry plants are sometimes laid down in cold climates,--the tops being bent over and held to the ground by earth or sods thrown on their tips.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Knife hook for cutting out old canes]

Snyder is the most popular commercial variety; but Agawam, Ancient Briton, Taylor, and others are better in quality. A new patch should be planted every five or six years.

BLUE BOTTLE. See _Centaurea Cya.n.u.s_.

BORDEAUX MIXTURE is a fungicide, used to combat mildews, leaf-diseases, blights, etc. It is sprayed on the plants with a spray pump or syringe, or it may be applied with a whisk broom. Apply enough of it so that the foliage looks blue. It is made as follows: Copper sulfate, 6 pounds; quicklime, 4 pounds; water, 40 to 50 gallons. Dissolve the copper sulfate by putting it into a bag of coa.r.s.e cloth and hanging this in a vessel holding at least four gallons, so that it is just covered by the water. Use an earthen or wooden vessel. Slake the lime in an equal amount of water. Then mix the two and add enough water to make 40 gallons. It is then ready for immediate use, but will keep for some time. If the mixture is to be used on peach foliage, it is advisable to add an extra pound of lime to the above formula. When applied to such plants as carnations or cabbages, it will adhere better if a pound of hard soap is dissolved in hot water and added to the mixture. For rots, molds, mildews, and all fungous diseases.

Whilst Bordeaux Mixture is the best general fungicide, it discolors the plants until it washes off. On ornamental plants, therefore, a colorless fungicide may be preferable. In such cases, use the ammoniacal carbonate of copper solution, as follows: Copper carbonate, 1 ounce; ammonia, 1 volume 26 Baume, ? volumes water (enough to dissolve the copper); water, 9 gallons. The copper carbonate is best dissolved in large bottles, where it will keep indefinitely, and it should be diluted with water as required. For the same purposes as Bordeaux Mixture.

BORDER. The word border is used to designate the heavy or continuous planting about the boundaries of a place, or along the walks and drives, or against the buildings, in distinction from planting on the lawn or in the interior s.p.a.ces. A border receives different designations, depending upon the kinds of plants which are grown therein; that is, it may be a shrub border, a flower border, a hardy border for native and other hardy plants, a vine border, and the like. As a rule, the most effective planting is that which is thrown into ma.s.ses, for one plant reinforces the other, and the flowers have a good setting or background. Very striking displays of foliage and flowers and plant forms can be made when ma.s.sed together. As a rule, plants are more easily grown when planted in a border, since the whole area can be kept cultivated with ease; and if a plant becomes weak or dies, its place is readily filled by the neighboring plants spreading into it. Planting in ma.s.ses is also essential to the best arrangement of the yard, since the basis of any landscape is a more or less continuous greensward (see _Lawn_). The house occupies the central part of the area, and the sides are heavily ma.s.sed or planted so as to make a framework for the whole place. The border may be mixed,--that is, composed of a great variety of plants,--or it may be made up of one continuous thing. In long and very striking borders, it is often best to have the background--that is, the back row--of one general type of plant in order to give continuity and strength to the whole group. In front of this a variety of plants may be set, if one desire.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Planting by the steps]

The land should be rich. The whole ground should be plowed or spaded and the plants set irregularly in the s.p.a.ce; or the back row may be set in a line. If the border is composed of shrubs, and is large, a horse cultivator may be run in and out between the plants for the first two or three years, since the shrubs will be set from 2 to 4 ft. apart.

Ordinarily, however, the cultivating is done by hand tools. After the plants are once established and the border is filled, it is best to dig up as little as possible, for the digging disturbs the roots and breaks off the crowns. It is usually best to pull out the weeds and give the border a top-dressing each fall of well rotted manure. If the ground is not very rich, a sprinkling of ashes or some commercial fertilizer may be given from time to time. The border should be planted so thick as to allow the plants to run together, thereby giving one continuous effect.

Most shrubs should be set 3 feet apart. Things as large as lilacs may go 4 feet and sometimes even more. Common herbaceous perennials, like bleeding heart, delphiniums, hollyhocks, and the like, should go from 12 to 18 inches. On the front edge of the border is a very excellent place for annual and tender flowering plants. Here, for example, one may make a fringe of asters, geraniums, coleus, or anything else which he may choose (see _Flower Beds_).

The border is an excellent place in which to colonize native or other interesting plants. A person comes across an attractive plant on his tramp and wishes it were in his garden. Whatever the time of year, he may break off the top close to the ground, take up the roots and plant them in the border. If a little attention is given to the plant for the first two or three weeks, as watering or mulching or shading, it should become established and give satisfactory bloom the following year.

Two-thirds of the herbs which one would take up in this way, even in midsummer, should grow. Into the heavy borders about the boundaries of the place the autumn leaves will drift and afford an excellent mulch. If these borders are planted with shrubs, the leaves may be left there to decay, and not be raked off in the spring. The general outline of the border facing the lawn should be more or less wavy or irregular, particularly if it is on the boundary of the place. Alongside a walk or drive, the margins may follow the general directions of the walk or drive.

There are three rules for the choosing of plants for a hardy border.

Choose (1) those which you like best, (2) those which are adapted to the climate and soil, (3) those which are in place or in keeping with that part of the grounds. See _Herbs_, _Shrubs_, _Trees_.

BORECOLE is _Kale_.

BORERS. There is no sovereign remedy for borers except to dig them out.

Do not rely upon washes or other applications. If trees are examined two or three times a year, it is not a laborious undertaking to dig them out, as they will not be deep in the wood. If they do get deep in the wood, thrust a wire into the burrow. By the chips cast from the holes, or by the dead bark, the presence of borers may be detected. Apple and peach trees are particularly liable to attack. The flat-headed apple-tree borer works just underneath the bark on any part of the trunk or large branches. The round-headed apple-tree borer eats into the wood at the crown.

BOXES of many sizes can be utilized in which to grow plants. Excellent effects of bulbs and annuals may be had in old soap boxes. The boxes may be placed in the best situations for the growth of the plants, and they can receive better attention than the large flower bed. Vines planted about the edge will hide the sides,--such vines as Kenilworth ivy, moneywort, maurandya, trailing fuchsia, and the like.

BRACHYCOME. See _Swan River Daisy_.